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Home » Recipes » Sandwiches » Spicy Meatballs Sub Sandwiches

Spicy Meatballs Sub Sandwiches

by Mike Hultquist · Jan 3, 2017 · 9 Comments · Jump to Recipe

Spicy meatballs sub sandwiches are perfect for satisfying the biggest of appetites!This classic sub recipe features seasoned beef meatballs that are seared then slow cooked and drenched in spicy habanero-tomato sauce. Just the right amount of spice and HUGE on flavor!

Spicy Meatballs Sub Sandwiches Recipe

Whether you're making these for the big game, a neighborhood potluck or just a party with friends, these meatball subs are sure to be a huge hit.

These bad boys are especially popular during football season - when it comes to game day tailgating or homegating, wherever you’re throwing the party, you GOTTA have good food to make the day complete.

For that big bash, we’re serving up something EVERYONE loves: Meatball Subs. Drop the mic! Today we’re using El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce, and we’re using it two ways. First, we’re adding it to the meatballs to kick the flavor up a notch, and second, we’re adding it to a simple tomato sauce that we’ll be using not only to simmer and cook the meatballs, but to also drench the meatball sub sandwiches. Is your mouth watering yet?

Spicy Meatballs Sub Sandwiches - Recipe

Ingredients for Spicy Meatball Subs

  • Olive Oil
  • White Onion
  • Garlic
  • Whole Peeled Tomatoes
  • Tomato Sauce
  • El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce
  • Dried Basil
  • Salt and Pepper

For the meatballs:

  • White Onion
  • Garlic
  • Ground Beef
  • Egg
  • Panko
  • Shredded Parmesan Cheese
  • Dried Basil
  • El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Olive Oil

For serving:

  • French Rolls
  • Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce

How to Make Meatball Subs

Let’s get cooking! Start by getting your sauce going. You’ll heat up a large pan with a bit of olive oil and cook down the onion a few minutes, then the garlic for about a minute until you can smell it.

Cooking garlic is SO GOOD. Next, add the whole tomatoes and break them up a bit, the tomato sauce, basil, a bit of salt and pepper, and hot sauce.

Spicy Meatballs Sub Sandwiches - Recipe

Bring to a quick boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for at least 30 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering, let’s get to work on the meatballs. Go ahead and add the meatballs ingredients to a large mixing bowl – ground beef, minced onion and garlic, beaten egg, panko, Parmesan cheese, basil, salt and pepper, and plenty of hot sauce.

The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons, but you can easily add more to your personal preference. I freely admit I added more.

Spicy Meatballs Sub Sandwiches - Recipe

Mix it all together by hand, but be careful not to over-mix. If you over-mix it, the end meatballs can become mealy, and you want them meaty, not mealy.

Form them into 18 meatballs, like so.

Spicy Meatballs Sub Sandwiches - Recipe

Sear up the meatballs in a bit of oil in a large pan, just enough to nicely brown the edges, then cover them with your red sauce.

Lower to heat and simmer the whole thing about 20-30 minutes to cook the meatballs through.

Spicy Meatballs Sub Sandwiches - Recipe

You can let them simmer a while at low heat. Once your party guests arrive and are ready to eat, serve these up on some French rolls or hoagie rolls, top them with grated Parmesan cheese and extra El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce and you’re good to go!

Recipe Tips & Notes

  • Scale up if needed. With 2 pounds of meat PLUS all of the other ingredients, that should work out to 18 meatballs of roughly 2 ounces each. If you serve 3 meatballs on a sub, this will give you 6 good sized meatballs sub sandwiches. If you’re throwing a larger party, scale up accordingly, or add in more ingredients to make bigger meatballs.
  • Simmer for an hour if you can. I like mine to simmer about an hour to REALLY let the flavors develop, but half hour is no problem if you’re in a rush. I check it a few times as it cooks and adjust with salt, pepper and more hot sauce to my personal tastes.
  • Don't assemble until you're ready to serve. As soon as those saucy meatballs are on the bread, you're gonna want to serve them right away! If you wait too long, the bread will get super soggy and the subs will be no good.

Don’t these babies look delicious?

Spicy Meatballs Sub Sandwiches - Recipe

I hope you enjoy the game! And your spicy meatballs subs!

Try Some of My Other Popular Spicy Meatball Recipes

  • Spicy Meatballs in Chipotle-Lime Sauce
  • Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
  • Spicy Italian Meatballs
  • Spicy Korean Chicken Meatballs
  • Grape Jelly Meatballs

If you make this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #ChiliPepperMadness on Instagram so we can take a look. I always love to see all of your spicy inspirations. Thanks! -- Mike H.

Spicy Meatball Sub Sandwich Recipe
Print

Spicy Meatballs Sub Sandwiches Recipe

Satisfy the biggest of appetites with this recipe for seasoned beef meatballs seared then slow cooked and drenched in habanero-tomato sauce. Just the right amount of spice and HUGE on flavor. Game day is on the way!
Save Recipe Saved!
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: habanero, hot sauce, meatballs
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Calories: 606kcal
Author: Mike Hultquist
Servings: 6
Tap or hover to scale
5 from 2 votes
Leave a Review

Ingredients

FOR THE SAUCE

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 white onion chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1 15 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
  • 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
  • 2 tablespoons El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce or more to taste
  • 2 tablespoons dried basil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

FOR THE MEATBALLS

  • 1 small white onion minced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 pounds ground beef or a bit more for larger meatballs
  • 1 egg beaten
  • ½ cup panko
  • 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 3 tablespoons dried basil
  • 2-3 tablespoons El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

FOR SERVING

  • French rolls or hoagie rolls extra grated Parmesan cheese and more El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce.

Instructions

  • Get your sauce going first by heating a sauce pan to medium and adding olive oil. Add the onion and cook about 4 minutes to soften, then add garlic and stir. Cook another minute until you can smell the garlic. Mmmm.
  • Add whole tomatoes, tomato sauce, El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce, basil, and salt and pepper to your preference. Stir it up!
  • Bring the whole thing to a quick boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer at least 30 minutes. An hour is better to let the flavors mingle.
  • Next, get your meatballs going by adding the minced onion, minced garlic, ground beef, egg, panko, Parmesan cheese, dried basil and El Yucateco® Red Chile Habanero Hot Sauce to a large mixing bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Hand mix the seasoned meat, but do not overmix, or the meatballs can become mealy. Form them into 18 meatballs.
  • Heat a large pan to medium heat and add olive oil. Add meatballs and cook a couple minutes per side to brown them up. Pour the red sauce over them and let the whole thing simmer about 20-30 minutes to cook through.
  • Serve the meatballs onto hoagie or sub rolls. Top with extra Parmesan cheese and habanero hot sauce. Enjoy!

Notes

Makes 6 meatballs subs, so scale up accordingly!

Nutrition Information

Calories: 606kcal   Carbohydrates: 17g   Protein: 36g   Fat: 43g   Saturated Fat: 15g   Cholesterol: 149mg   Sodium: 1141mg   Potassium: 1001mg   Fiber: 3g   Sugar: 7g   Vitamin A: 625IU   Vitamin C: 22.3mg   Calcium: 346mg   Iron: 8mg
Spicy Meatball Sub Sandwich Recipe
Did You Enjoy This Recipe?I love hearing how you like it and how you made it your own. Leave a comment below and tag @ChiliPepperMadness on social media.

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Dan says

    April 01, 2022 at 9:22 am

    5 stars
    Any recommendation on doing this in a slow cooker?

    Reply
    • Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says

      April 01, 2022 at 12:02 pm

      Dan, you can form then brown the meatballs in a pan, then transfer them to a slow cooker with the sauce ingredients and cook on low for a couple hours until they cook through. Let me know how it goes for you. Enjoy!

      Reply
  2. Dan says

    July 15, 2020 at 8:37 am

    I made these substituting Tabasco for the hot sauce. Outstanding recipe!

    Reply
    • Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says

      July 15, 2020 at 12:29 pm

      Sounds great, Dan! Perfect! Glad you enjoyed them.

      Reply
  3. John says

    July 24, 2019 at 11:14 am

    5 stars
    Made this recipe a few times now. Delicious! I just read a Mexican meatball soup recipe on another site. Looked interesting but it had me thinking that CPM would likely had a better recipe. Low and behold it did and I have made it before. I am going to incorporate the above zestiness with the soup characteristics of the other for a collaborative flavor-bomb soup.

    Stay spicy,

    John

    Reply
    • Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says

      July 24, 2019 at 11:45 am

      VERY COOL, John! I better get on making a Mexican meatball soup recipe, too! Always LOVE IT when you stop by! Have a good one.

      Reply
  4. Dude says

    June 04, 2019 at 6:50 pm

    5 stars
    Thank you, this was excellent!

    Reply
    • Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says

      June 05, 2019 at 11:05 am

      Thanks, Dude! I'm a huge fan of meatball sandwiches.

      Reply
  5. adriana says

    January 04, 2017 at 3:50 am

    What a great recipe to transform a classic. Love the subs and meatballs but adding habanero it makes them even better Thanks for sharing your yummy recipe with us =) ~ client

    Reply

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